Afghanistan

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government following the comments of the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, on 2 March that the military war in Afghanistan cannot be won, what assessment they have made of the likelihood of success in that campaign; and what assessment they have made of the likelihood of failure resulting in Al Qaeda re-establishing training camps there.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Enduring success in Afghanistan cannot be achieved by military means alone. This is why the international community is working with the democratically elected Afghan Government to deliver the security, governance and development necessary to suppress the insurgency and ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a haven for international terrorists.
	The reality is that we are making progress but it will take time and patience to achieve our objectives.

Afghanistan: Military Equipment

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answers by Lord Tunnicliffe on 11 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 114—15) on the funding of military equipment intended for Afghanistan, whether the net costs of operations are met from the contingency reserve.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answers by Lord Tunnicliffe on 11 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 114—15) on the funding of military equipment intended for Afghanistan, what is their definition of the net costs of the war being met from the reserves.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The Ministry of Defence claims from the reserve the net additional costs of military operations which it incurs. The costs that the department would have incurred regardless of the operation taking place, such as salaries, are not included. Net figures can also take account of savings from activities that have not occurred because of the operation such as the cancellation of a training exercise.

Afghanistan: Military Equipment

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answers by Lord Tunnicliffe on 11 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 114—15) on the funding of military equipment intended for Afghanistan, whether the cost of replacing a helicopter worn out through wear and tear is met by the contingency fund.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answers by Lord Tunnicliffe on 11 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 114—15) on the funding of military equipment intended for Afghanistan, whether, when the use of helicopters, aircraft and military vehicles is increased as a result of conflict, they will consider using the contingency reserve to meet the cost of replacing such equipment; and whether they do so at present.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: While on current operations, all equipment costs that result from a level of activity that is higher than that programmed in the core budget are funded by the reserve.

Afghanistan: Military Equipment

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Answers by Lord Tunnicliffe on 11 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 114—15) on the funding of military equipment intended for Afghanistan, whether they provide the armed forces with the necessary equipment to successfully fulfil their mission in Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: We have an impressive, well-equipped force in Afghanistan. The quality and versatility of the equipment we issue to our troops is far higher than it has ever been and we are continually working to improve it.

Afghanistan: Military Equipment

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether military equipment intended for Afghanistan is insured; and, if so, whether the cost of insuring such equipment is borne by them or the contractors or by anyone else.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Military equipment intended for Afghanistan is not insured by the Ministry of Defence. The Ministry of Defence, like other government departments, does not purchase commercial insurance, but instead covers its own liabilities from current expenditure. However, the standard policy for any military materiel being carried by civilian contractor to an operational theatre is that the Ministry of Defence requires the contractor to take out insurance against loss, and in these circumstances the contractor would be responsible for the financial loss. For stages of the journey where the contractor finds that the risks are uninsurable, the financial loss would be recovered from the contingency fund.

Armed Forces: Defence Deficit

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they propose to reduce the "defence deficit" of up to £20 billion identified in a recent report by the UK National Defence Association.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional resources they propose to allocate to provide Her Majesty's Armed Forces with all the necessary up-to-date equipment.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The Comprehensive Spending Review announced in July 2007 gave the MoD an average annual increase, in real terms, of 1.5 per cent for the period of the settlement. We undertake routine planning rounds that allocate resources in line with defence priorities and the defence budget, including equipping people on, and training for, operations but also ensuring that we provide the necessary core capabilities for our forces over the longer term.
	Outside the core defence budget, the costs of urgent operational requirements (UORs) are met by the reserve. More than £4.2 billion has been approved on emerging UORs for Iraq and Afghanistan since operations began. Furthermore, the Secretary of State for Defence announced on 29 October 2008 more than £700 million for an extra 700 vehicles, including a protected mobility package, further to improve the safety and protection of our troops on operations in Afghanistan. As well as the protected mobility package, we have also agreed with the Treasury an estimate of a further £635 million in 2009-10 for other UORs.

Climate Change: Population

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 12 February (WA 220) concerning population control, why the answer referred to an online site instead of including the information in the Official Report; and, in what circumstances they answer in that way.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Department for International Development's paper on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights is 25 pages and we have checked with Hansard and it has confirmed that it is too long to appear in the Official Report. It can be accessed at www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/sexualreprohealthrights.pdf.

Drugs: Cocaine

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they will implement following the assassination of Guinea-Bissau's President Vieira to seek to prevent that country from acting as a transit route for cocaine from Colombia to the United Kingdom.

Lord West of Spithead: The Government are monitoring the situation in Guinea-Bissau. It is too early to judge whether the assassination of President Vieira will make any difference to the already established position of Guinea-Bissau and other West African countries as transit points for cocaine trafficking to Europe.
	The Government will seek to continue the close bilateral engagement to which they are already committed with the Government of Guinea Bissau on combating drug trafficking.
	They will also continue to pursue energetically with European Union partners the commitments made in the conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of 27 November 2008 ref 15936/08.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relative contribution of carbon emissions reductions, mitigation and coping measures, and geo-engineering projects in tackling the potential and actual effects of global warming.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The UK supports the EU's view that to avoid potentially dangerous climate change, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced globally by more than 50 per cent by 2050 in order to limit the rise in global average temperature to 2°C. Some climate change is nevertheless unavoidable, partly due to previous emissions, and so adaptation will also be needed to address this. These two responses to climate change are complementary and are widely accepted as necessary by the scientific community as indicated, for example, in the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
	Geo-engineering projects, in which the climate system would be manipulated to counter warming from greenhouse gases, have been proposed as alternative responses to climate change. However, such approaches are rather speculative and unproven. They may not achieve what they intend and would not tackle the causes of climate change. They may also carry significant environmental risks and suffer from disadvantages such as high cost, limited practicality, unproven technologies and lack of political acceptability. Geo-engineering approaches are thus not seen at present as a viable alternative to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is important, however, to keep such options under review as some might ultimately have a role to play in helping to ameliorate climate change, particularly if emissions reductions are not achieved quickly enough or climate change turns out to be worse than projected.

Energy: Cooking Oils

The Earl of Selborne: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they will take to ensure that used cooking oils are classed as a fuel product.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government have made funding available to enable the Environment Agency to develop an end-of-waste protocol for waste cooking oils. Waste cooking oil which is treated to the standards set out in the protocol is accepted by the agency to have been fully recovered and to have ceased to be waste. The protocol applies to the production of biodiesel for use in automotive engines.
	The question of whether waste cooking oil has been fully recovered so that it ceases to be waste before it is used as fuel in other circumstances is one that must be determined on the facts of each case and taking into account relevant case law on the definition of waste. In England and Wales, it rests with the Environment Agency to take decisions on the classification of substances as waste.

Energy: Electricity Storage

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current state of United Kingdom electricity storage; and what effect the recent spell of bad weather had on such storage.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The UK has no electricity storage facilities. The UK does have hydro-electricity generators that utilise pumped storage (whereby water is pumped to an upper reservoir at periods of low demand to be released to generate electricity at periods of high demand). Pumped storage generation therefore offers a critical short-term back-up facility during periods of intense demand on the national grid system.
	We are not aware that the recent spell of bad weather has had any appreciable effect on pumped storage.

Energy: Nuclear Power

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the national planning policy statement on nuclear power will be delayed until 2010; and, if so, why.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: It remains our intention to consult on a draft nuclear national policy statement later this year, but this process and parliamentary scrutiny means it will not be designated until 2010.

Energy: Nuclear Power Stations

Lord Wakeham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the earliest date by which it is likely that a new nuclear power station will have been built in the United Kingdom.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We are making progress on our facilitative actions with the estimate of having new nuclear power stations generating electricity from around 2018.

Energy: Offshore Drilling

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have for offshore drilling off the coast of north-west England.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The exploitation of the UK's oil and gas resource, including drilling, is carried out by companies under licences issued by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change under the Petroleum Act 1998. Drilling and other specific activities are subject to a further requirement for individual consent. Her Majesty's Government do not carry out any such drilling.
	Thirty production licences presently cover areas in the Irish Sea. P099, P153, P251, P261, P287, P543, P547, P706, P710, P791, P865, P1032, P1033, P1475, P1476, P1477, P1478, P1479, P1480, P1481, P1482, P1483, P1545, P1546, P1547, P1548, P1549, P1550, P1551 and P1568.
	Currently there are no production licences in respect of any area adjacent to the coast of Northern Ireland.
	A map showing all current UK production licences can be viewed on my department's oil and gas website at www.og.berr.gov.uk/information/bb_updates/maps/Infrast_Off.pdf.
	All exploration licences permit exploration (but not including deep drilling) anywhere on the UK continental shelf and in the UK's territorial waters, outside those areas covered by production licences at the time.

Energy: Oil and Gas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what licences are valid for the exploration for oil and gas around the coast of Northern Ireland and the Irish Sea.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The exploitation of the UK's oil and gas resource, including drilling, is carried out by companies under licences issued by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change under the Petroleum Act 1998. Drilling and other specific activities are subject to a further requirement for individual consent. Her Majesty's Government do not carry out any such drilling.
	Thirty production licences presently cover areas in the Irish Sea. P099, P153, P251, P261, P287, P543, P547, P706, P710, P791, P865, P1032, P1033, P1475, P1476, P1477, P1478, P1479, P1480, P1481, P1482, P1483, P1545, P1546, P1547, P1548, P1549, P1550, P1551 and P1568.
	Currently there are no production licences in respect of any area adjacent to the coast of Northern Ireland.
	A map showing all current UK production licences can be viewed on my department's oil and gas website at www.og.berr.gov.uk/information/bb_updates/maps/Infrast_Off.pdf.
	All exploration licences permit exploration (but not including deep drilling) anywhere on the UK continental shelf and in the UK's territorial waters, outside those areas covered by production licences at the time.

Energy: Wind Farms

Lord Chadlington: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support the planning application for a wind farm on Reeves Hill in Herefordshire; and what consultation has taken place with neighbouring county councils about this application.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: As this particular wind farm application is currently in the planning system, it is a matter for the relevant local planning authority. I am therefore unable to comment.

English Heritage

Lord Hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much English Heritage has spent per capita in each of the counties in the east of England in each of the past 11 years.

Lord Carter of Barnes: English Heritage advises that it is not possible to provide expenditure figures broken down by county, only by region. Approximately half of its expenditure is allocated directly to its regions and the following table sets out its East of England spend per capita for the years in question. The figures do not include centrally managed expenditure although a considerable proportion delivers activity in the regions, for example, education, outreach, the property investment programme and some grants programmes.
	The proportion of English Heritage's centrally managed expenditure allocated to the East of England region cannot be established without disproportionate cost. This is because many activities are categorised thematically rather than geographically; for example, research into seaside towns or spend on presentation and interpretation at English Heritage properties based on need.
	The East of England spend per capita is as follows:
	
		
			 English Heritage Spend for East of England Region 1997-98 — 2002-03 
			  1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 
			 East of England expenditure in £m £6,821,017 £6,333,438 £9,056,567 11,594,625 11,965,960 11,261,277 
			 Population 5,266,915 5,302,028 5,338,722 5,374,972 5,400,463 5,432,729 
			 East of England per capita spend £1.30 £1.19 £1.70 £2.16 £2.22 £2.07 
		
	
	
		
			 English Heritage Spend for East of England Region 2003-04 - 2007-08 
			  2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 
			 East of England expenditure in £m £8,419,438 £8,629,410 £7,819,362 £9,508,487 £11,350,180 
			 Population 5,474,713 5,510,949 5,563,034 5,606,570 5,661,034 
			 East of England per capita spend £1.54 £1.57 £1.41 £1.70 £2.00 
		
	
	Sources:
	(1) spend—English Heritage;
	(2) population estimates—ONS.

Government Departments: Websites

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all their websites located in the United Kingdom must have the letters "UK" in their domain names.

Lord Patel of Bradford: Ministers agreed in July 2008 that all new central government owned websites should use .gov.uk domain names. This new policy applies to all new websites. We are discussing transitional arrangements with existing websites. Non-government domains (eg com, org etc) should be used only for defensive registration when a similar domain name is registered to protect an organisation's brand from common misspellings (typosquatting) or intentional misuse; for example, seeking to sell back to the organisation or use in bad faith (cybersquatting). Any such defensive registration must redirect to the primary government domain. (See http://coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=194#section3a for related guidance.) A copy has been placed in the Library.

Gross Domestic Product

Lord Roberts of Conwy: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of the United Kingdom's gross domestic product was attributable to the City in 2007—08; and how they define the City for that purpose.

Lord Patel of Bradford: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to Lord Roberts of Conwy, dated March 2009.
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Question about the proportion of UK gross domestic product attributable to the City of London. (HL 1574)
	The Office for National Statistics does not publish regional GDP but does publish estimates of regional gross value added (GVA), which is the same as GDP except for excluding taxes on products and including subsidies on products.
	Regional GVA is produced using official statistical geographies known as nomenclature of units for territorial statistics (NUTS). This nomenclature provides a single uniform breakdown for the production of regional statistics for the European Union. Regional GVA data are produced at three levels of NUTS in the UK. These are:
	NUTS1: Government Office Regions of England and the devolved Administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;NUTS2: 37 areas—sometimes referred to as sub- regions; and NUTS3: 133 areas—generally groups of unitary authorities or districts, also known as local areas.
	NUTS3 boundaries (the lowest level at which the ONS publishes regional GVA) do not directly correspond to the City of London, so we are unable to provide data at the geographical detail you require.

Health: Tuberculosis

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what facilities are in place to diagnose tuberculosis in prisoners in England.

Lord Bach: A prisoner with possible TB will usually be seen first by the prison primary care team who will then refer to the local NHS TB network for confirmation of the diagnosis.
	The Department of Health is currently funding a programme to install digital X-ray equipment in eight major prisons in England specifically for the purpose of screening prisoners for tuberculosis. This programme is expected to be complete before the end of 2009.

House of Lords: Reform

Lord Morris of Aberavon: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bach on 24 February (WA 49), what principles are applied in appointing party-political life peers; to whom the nominations are made; and in what numbers.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Nominations of party political life peers are a matter for the political parties concerned within the overall numbers set by the Prime Minister. All nominations are passed to the Prime Minister, who in turn passes them to the House of Lords Appointments Commission for vetting on propriety grounds.

International Whaling Commission

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will support measures at the June meeting of the International Whaling Commission that will end or seek to end imports of whale meat by Japan from Norway and Iceland.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Trade matters are within the competence of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and outside that of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), the parent treaty of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The UK Government firmly support the CITES ban on the international trade in whale meat and whale products.
	We are increasingly concerned about the trade in whale products between countries holding reservations to the CITES appendix I listing, or to countries which have not joined CITES. To eliminate the unacceptable risk of market-driven whaling in the future, we believe that contracting Governments to the IWC should lift all CITES reservations to cetacean species in order to aid negotiations on the future of the IWC.

Merseyside: Legacies

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what legacies have been left in Merseyside following Liverpool's designation as the European Capital of Culture 2008; and how many of these affect Sefton, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley and Halton.

Lord Carter of Barnes: Liverpool's role as European Capital of Culture 2008 not only attracted unprecedented investment in the region, but also helped to raise the profile of culture across Merseyside. Liverpool 08 brought more than £800 million in revenue to the region, on top of the £4 billion that has been invested since 2000, and which has resulted in a number of exciting capital projects, including Liverpool One, the Echo Arena and the Cruise Liner Terminal. These new developments will ensure a lasting economic legacy for Merseyside, both in terms of increased visitor numbers across the region, and also the impact on jobs and skills.
	A key success of Liverpool 08 was the relationships which were forged between cultural organisations and between the city of Liverpool and the rest of the Merseyside region, including Sefton, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley and Halton. Much of this work will continue, including Halton's Got Talent, Theatre in the Parks and the joint Merseyside projects, Open Art, Streetwaves, Let the People Sing, etc. Furthermore, the new Culture Collective created by Phil Redmond will be working to embed cultural legacy across Merseyside, in particular by continuing the excellent co-operation between the city of Liverpool and the rest of the region, which was so instrumental in the success of Liverpool 08.

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Department of Energy and Climate Change received in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009; what steps the department has taken to publicise them; and whether they will put the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Department of Energy and Climate Change has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Petitions will be received and acknowledged by DECC in the same way as other correspondence received by the department. It is also general practice to send a response to the issues raised to the originator of the petition. Although the department records the number of letters it receives, it does not count the numbers of petitions separately. The text of petitions and the number of signatures could be provided only at disproportionate cost, again because they are not stored separately from other forms of correspondence.
	The department is, however, currently considering options for handling petitions going forward, and has recently placed a link from the consultation section of DECC's new website to the e-petitions system on the Number 10 site.

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Department for Work and Pensions received in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; what steps the department has taken to publicise them; and whether they will place the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested is not available. Information on all the petitions received by the department is not held centrally.

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Department for Work and Pensions has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: There are no specific procedures for dealing with petitions. Petitions from members of the public are handled as part of normal correspondence and a response will be sent to the organisation or individual who sent in the petition. It would be for the organisation or individual to communicate the reply to the signatories on the petition.

Prisons: Imams

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many imams have been employed in HM Prison Service prisons in each year since 1997.

Lord Bach: Historical information on the number of employed Muslim chaplains is not available for every year since 1997. This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only by approaching more than 140 establishments in England and Wales. There were no Muslim chaplains employed by the Prison Service in 1997. Currently there are 78 Muslim chaplains employed by the Prison Service. The only other period for which figures are available is 2006, when there were 39 Muslim chaplains employed in prisons.

Prisons: Imams

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many imams are employed in each HM Prison Service prison.

Lord Bach: I refer the noble Baroness to the Answer I gave to the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, on 3 March (Official Report, col. WA 143).

Prisons: Imams

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many imams employed in HM Prison Service prisons have been dismissed or otherwise disciplined in each year since 1997; and what were the reasons for such action.

Lord Bach: The National Offender Management Service does not hold the information centrally in the format requested. Central collation of investigations details were not established until 2000. Formal investigations would need to be examined individually to identify relevant cases.

Prisons: Imams

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many imams employed in HM Prison Service prisons have been investigated by the Prison Service in each year since 1997; and what were the reasons for such action.

Lord Bach: According to records of disciplinary proceedings held centrally by the National Offender Management Service, one imam has been subject to formal disciplinary action, short of dismissal, since 1 January 2005. The disciplinary action was taken in 2008 following allegations of bullying from other members of staff.
	In order to provide the requested information for the period before 2005, it would be necessary to carry out comprehensive data gathering and analysis across the prison estate. This would involve contacting each of the 138 prisons across the service and scrutinising case files.

Prisons: Imams

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many imams employed in HM Prison Service prisons are United Kingdom citizens.

Lord Bach: The nationality of Prison Service staff is not recorded centrally and to obtain this information would mean approaching more than 140 establishments in England and Wales. Entitlement to work in the United Kingdom must be confirmed for all Prison Service staff, including imams.

Prisons: Imams

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Ministry of Justice provides guidance for the hiring of prison imams; and, if so, whether they will place a copy of such guidance in the Library of the House.

Lord Bach: Instructions and guidance on the appointment of chaplains, including imams, are provided in Prison Service Orders 8100 (Recruitment) and 8110 (Filling Vacancies). These orders are in website format, and so cannot readily be placed in the Library of the House. However, both can be accessed on the Prison Service's website at www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk.

Public Bodies

Lord Selsdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under "Department for Work and Pensions" in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: This information is not held centrally. Information on board membership and remuneration is published in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts. These can be accessed from the departmental website on the following link at www.dwp.gov.uk/ndpb/public_bodies.asp#ndpb.

Public Bodies

Lord Selsdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under "Ministry of Justice" in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration.

Lord Bach: This information is not held centrally. To obtain the details it would be necessary to consult each of the Ministry of Justice non-departmental public bodies to identify which of their current membership belonged to the House of Lords. Information on board membership and remuneration is published in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 4 November 2008 (WA 41—42) indicating that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's improved system for the processing of Parliamentary Questions would help ensure that replies to Questions for Written Answer are provided within the two-week target, how many answers from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office remain to be given outside that target for each day during February.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The number of Questions allocated to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which were unanswered after 14 days during February 2009, as set out in the Lords business papers, are set out below.
	2 February—13;3 February—8;4 February—11; 5 February—16; 6 February—15; 9 February—15; 10 February—22; 11 February—33; 12 February—18; 23 February—25; 24 February—47; 25 February—4; 26 February—4; and 27 February—7.
	While these statistics do not reflect the standard to which we aspire, we are continually trying to improve our new system to ensure better performance.

Roads: Repair

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what Government help has been given to local government to help with the repair of roads made dangerous by the recent heavy snowfalls.

Lord Adonis: None, as we have received no formal approaches from local authorities for help. The department will give careful consideration to any such requests, where they fulfil the department's published criteria.

Rockall

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government who owns Rockall and the sea around it.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The island of Rockall is UK sovereign territory, as provided for in the Island of Rockall Act 1972, which incorporated the island "into that part of the United Kingdom known as Scotland", and made provision for the law of Scotland to apply to it.
	UK sovereignty extends to the 12 nautical mile territorial sea around Rockall, under the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Terrorism

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals convicted of terrorist offences are currently in prison; and in which prisons.

Lord Bach: The Home Office will shortly be publishing a statistical bulletin covering those persons arrested following a terrorist investigation with the resulting charges and convictions. This bulletin will also include information on those remanded or convicted of Terrorism Act or terrorism related offences at 31 March 2008 broken down by nationality and religion.

Traffic Penalty Tribunal

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what legal entity employs the Traffic Penalty Tribunal manager of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and the service director of PATROL (the Traffic Penalty Tribunal Joint Committee); and what legal entity is responsible for their remuneration.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how the parking adjudicators of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal are remunerated; and what is the legal entity responsible for their remuneration.

Lord Adonis: The Traffic Management Act 2004, the parking provisions of which were brought into force on 31 March 2008, provides in Section 81(4) that the relevant enforcement authorities shall provide, or make arrangements for the provision of accommodation and administrative staff and facilities for adjudicators; and determine the places where adjudicators are to sit, and shall defray all the expenses of the adjudication process and, in particular, expenses in relation to the remuneration of adjudicators.

Traffic Penalty Tribunal

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Traffic Penalty Tribunal employees are employed by Manchester City Council.

Lord Adonis: This information is not held by central government.

Wales: Divorce and Separation

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many divorces and separations there were in Wales in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, and (d) 2009 to date.

Lord Patel of Bradford: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to Lord Roberts of Llandudno, dated March 2009.
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many divorces and separations there were in Wales in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, and (d) 2009 to date. (HL1986)
	Table 1 shows the number of divorces in Wales for 2006, 2007, and the first quarter of 2008. Figures for 2009 are not yet available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Divorces in Wales 
			  Number of divorces (thousands) 
			 2006 6.9 
			 2007 6.7P 
			 2008—1stquarter 1.6p 
			 2008—2nd quarter 1.5P 
		
	
	p - provisional
	The latest quarterly and annual divorce statistics by country are also available in the quarterly publications, Population Trends and Health Statistics Quarterly. The most recent edition of Population Trends (#134) shows divorce statistics for Wales in table 2.1 on page 68, and is available online at www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Population-Trends-134.pdf.
	Divorce statistics are based upon information supplied to ONS by the courts in England and Wales. The fact that a divorce has taken place in Wales does not mean that either one or both parties are resident there.
	Although it is possible to estimate the separated population in the constituent countries of the UK, figures on the number of separations are not available. This is because nationally representative statistical information on separations occurring is not readily available in any administrative or survey source.